Your resume is the tip, but your network of contacts is the iceberg.
The metaphor is no less powerful because it is familiar. The statement conveys the value and fundamental role that authentic connections with other people can play in one’s career path; ones that are often taken for granted or undervalued. And in the current context, with the digital environment dominating interactions, success, understood in its broadest sense, can depend on that community that is forged along the way.
Using a metaphor about penguins and the importance of their colonies for breeding, nesting and protecting chicks, Rubén Navarro, Global CMO & Marketing Advisor at elrow, was in charge of remembering this during his speech in PonteCara. The networking event promoted by Carlos García Trillo, current Marketing Director at Gaes, and Andrea Franco, Professional Development Coach, returned after five years with a new vindication of the value of shared time, quality conversation and contact as the basis of professional relationships.
The sixth edition of the meeting brought together more than 130 professionals in Madrid and demonstrated that PonteCara has already established itself as an active community. Those who attended – some professionals who had already been there on previous occasions at the event, and others who were new – understood that networking must go beyond exchanging corporate cards or accumulating contacts on Linkedin to be able to translate into tangible relationships, projects and opportunities.
It took place on April 23 at Espacio Iroko in Madrid and was sponsored by Glocally, Andbank and Octopus.
In this framework, Rubén Navarro wanted to share with the public some of the learnings acquired throughout his more than twenty years of experience.
One of them is that, although the logo that accompanies the position and functions of a professional matters, it is not everything. “Every time we see a logo we judge, we idealize, we decide. It also inflates our ego“, he commented during his presentation. “As time has passed, I have realized that we should give more value to the people behind those symbols, to those people who are relevant and leave their mark on a trajectory.”.
He illustrated the idea by referring to the athlete Eliud Kipchoge and the feat achieved in 2019 in Vienna by becoming the first person to cover the entire distance of a marathon in less than two hours. A milestone he achieved, among other things, thanks to years of training under the tutelage of his coach, Patrick Sang; the advice of his manager Valentijn Trouw; the strategy devised by the team of experts from the Ineos company; or the help of 41 elite hares that helped their performance during the challenge. ““100% of me is nothing compared to 1% of the entire team.”commented the athlete after achieving the historic mark.
Kipchoge’s feat is, in the eyes of Rubén Navarro, an example of the importance of networks of people who work behind logos. “Things don’t happen just because you have Nike on your sneakers. They happen because people make it possible“, noted the manager. “Companies often hire professionals based on the logos on their resume, hoping that they will reproduce the successes they have achieved, but they forget that without the team or community that made them possible, that miracle may not be repeated.”.
Curiously, just a few days after PonteCara, in the London Marathon two athletes managed to run under 2 hours in official competition. Sabastian Sawe completed the course in 1 hour 59 minutes and 30 seconds, while Yomif Kejelcha came in second position with a time of 1 hour 59 minutes and 41 seconds. The winner, in line with what was stated by Rubén Navarro, reflected on the importance of teamwork, in which he also included his rival. “We had a strong team, the hares did their job very well“Sawe noted, giving Kejelcha part of the credit for making the record possible: “Today Kejelcha showed me that he is strong. We help each other. He was giving his all, so was I. In the end, at the last moment, I was stronger. If it hadn’t been for him, perhaps the world record would have been very difficult”.
As he shared with the attendees, in the case of Navarro that network is created on connections that, in most cases, have occurred spontaneously and honestly, without planning, on relationships stripped of commercial interests and in which no one expects anything in return. This has given rise to a community of people who, at some point, have helped with a new opportunity, contributed to making a project a reality or offered their support in the face of adversity.
“At Asics I met someone who, when I left for Nike, introduced me to three key people. One of them, years later, was the one who called me to talk about Wallapop. And at Wallapop I met someone who completely changed how I understand the role of a CMO and thanks to whom, after my departure, I landed on elrow“, Navarro illustrated through his career. “The thread is not linear or planned. That is precisely the point: the network is built without knowing what you will need it for.”.
Thus, he assured that the super power of a professional is not only his knowledge or his achievements: it is having a network, the ability to rely on it and mobilize it. Hence the importance, as he pointed out, of events like PonteCara, which help generate authentic connections. He stressed the importance of building one’s own community, despite the tendency to leave it in the background, either because one does not know how to create those ties or due to lack of time.
In order to shape this network, the manager recommended that attendees put their interests aside; Be guided by naturalness and honesty to generate trust, and surround yourself with people who believe in the same thing, who have similar ways of seeing the world and understanding life, and who also want to help. In this sense, he brought to mind a popular reflection by the writer and consultant Simon Sinek: “The goal is not to do business with everyone who needs what you have, but to do business with people who believe in the same thing as you.”
Again drawing on his experience, Navarro illustrated the power of connections by sharing some details of how the “I offer myself” campaign was created, designed by the agencies Revuelta and Mono Madrid for Wallapop, and starring Jon Kortajarena. With the intention of raising awareness about excessive consumption, the model was offered to the media that wanted to interview him to talk about the relationship between fashion, sustainability and environmental responsibility.
“This action was pure networking. A junior who knew a photographer. A contact at the media agency who notified of the availability of the space in Plaza de Sol. Or Jon Kortajarena, who became much more involved than expected because he believed in what Wallapop represented.“, explained the manager. “That alignment of beliefs is what made it work. Not the budget. People who called other people”.
The campaign was awarded at the Eficacia 2024 Awards and the National Creativity Awards 2025.
“This action was pure networking. A junior who knew a photographer. A contact at the media agency who notified of the availability of the space in Plaza del Sol. Or Jon Kortajarena who did it for free got involved much more than expected because he believed in what Wallapop represented,” the manager explained. “That alignment of beliefs is what made it work. Not the budget. People calling other people.”
Rubén Navarro concluded his presentation at PonteCara with two reflections, both on the responsibility linked to the community: on the one hand, that of oneself and the dedication necessary to build one’s own network. On the other hand, that of providing and returning support. “It’s up to you to be surrounded by people who believe in the same things as you.“, he commented. “Those of us who already have experience have a certain moral obligation to help other people create networks and communities, do coaching, mentoring… We all, at some point, need help. We can all turn someone from a chick to a penguin.”.
